Mad bargain

I wasn’t paying attention because I wasn’t interested in the game, but I was legit shocked when I found out that Prey was already sub-£30 on Amazon, and presumably elsewhere. It’s only been out two weeks and although it’s sales don’t seem to have been great it got to number one, eventually, and is still in the top 10. That is just bizarre to me that a game can relatively successful and yet slashed in price within literally days.

Maybe Amazon order too many copies, based on Bethesda’s usual track record, but this sort of thing isn’t that unusual for anything but the top blockbusters. It’s really sad but it makes me worried about how long this can last for single-player games. There’s no way Bethesda are getting their money back on that: there’s no multiplayer and I don’t think any DLC, so everyone’s going to just sell it on as soon as they’ve beaten it. Even if that takes a couple of weeks.

This has actually made me quite wary about buying any more games at launch. I’d already cut down because of bugs and patches but If I can save nearly £20 by waiting half a month then you can bet I’m going to. It’s madness though.Timberbrew

Show secrets

So… what are Capcom showing at E3? Surely it’s long past time they should have shown Resident Evil 2 remake but what happened to all their hints about revamping old franchises? And making a more Western-friendly Monster Hunter? In fact, where is Monster Hunter at all now that the 3DS is on its last legs?

With the Resident Evil 7 DLC and Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite as well I feel like they should have a lot to show off this year, and I’m impatient to see it all. With the resurgence of Japanese companies this year I feel like Capcom are the only one that hasn’t really made a comeback, and yet they’ve always been my favourite old school company.

Now I think about it what happened to that hint about the working with Platinum as well? There’s so much stuff I’d like to see from them but I don’t think they’ve said anything about what they’ll be showing.Gifford

GC: We honestly don’t know what they’ll have this year. We’ve got a meeting booked for something secret, but whether it’s Resident Evil 2 or something completely new we don’t know.

Stretching the truth

Speaking of letters to gaming companies, I remember the European N64 release date being heavily delayed so I decided to save up for the imminent release of the original PlayStation. I wrote to Sony asking several questions, one of which was how many racing tracks did the main launch title Ridge Racer have.

Although they were kind enough to write back they did tell me a great big fib by claiming it had six tracks! As all big Ridge Racer fans probably know it actually only had one main track, which had three different length routes which could also be unlocked in mirror mode! Hardly what I’d call six tracks. To say I felt mugged off after buying the game was a big understatement.adams6legend

Breaking point

Ooh, I have a good one for everybody! It feels like we have discussed it or maybe similar before, but what is the breaking point for other readers? By that, I mean, at what point do you decide that any particular game just isn’t for you? Do people give a highly-acclaimed title more leeway? Do different genres get more time?

I know that’s true for me. I would give up much sooner on a platform game or fighting game I wasn’t clicking with than a role-player or a Zelda-style adventure. But what are the policies of fellow readers?DMR

GC: Well, this guy’s is super hard boss battles…

Into the frying pan

Dark Souls III has defeated me. A few weeks back I wrote in saying I’ve never understood the love so many fans give this series of games… until I fell in love with Dark Souls III. Here’s the update to that letter.

My trusted knight and I made an epic nightmare journey through hell with a few bumps along the way, namely Aldrich/Young Prince Lothric.

But though sheer will and might we triumph against all the odds to the very second-to-last bonfire. The Soul of Cinder was standing in our way, a truly mighty fight begin between two titans. We played a dance of death but eventually we had him on the ropes, and with one slash of our mighty sword Cinder was finished.

Or so we thought until phase two started, where Cinder decided to go full on Superman and slay us within 30 seconds of round two.

Unfortunately, I haven’t tried again since my very soul has been crushed. I might go back in the future and try again, but for now I’ve moved on to Bloodborne.Stuart

GC: Don’t give up now, you were doing so well! Especially as Bloodborne is just different enough to undo all that muscle memory.

Something to hide

I’ve not played Mass Effect: Andromeda (though I did play Mass Effect 1 to 3), but I’m pretty disappointed that it has turned out to be a bit rubbish. This of course is a bit of a sweeping generalisation based on other people’s opinions, but still, I feel disappointment.

I had naively assumed the lack of info was a Rockstar-style managed process to prevent overexposure. But alas, it seems it was perhaps in part to hide some clunky animation and storytelling.

Which brings me to my point: with Mass Effect 1, I had to have a second attempt at after completing Mass Effect 2, as I found it too clunky the first time round. I’ve also never thought the story or dialogue was especially gripping in any of the Mass Effects; the overarching story was fine, but the finer detail of the story was all a bit hokey.

Given this, I can’t quite explain my reticence to give Andromeda a go. I guess it’s a combination of expectation of improvement: that each sequel should be building on the last, and any step back is unacceptable. As well as the sad realisation that I just don’t have the time to play video games that I used to, so I have to prioritise what I play (currently I’m splitting my time between Zelda and The Witcher 3). So ultimately this makes me disappointed that I’ll probably never play a game in all likelihood I’d quite enjoy. I should probably just buy it.Jokeb (gamertag)

GC: We agree with you in terms of the script in the previous games, and mentioned the issue in our review. It’s not that the previous Mass Effects were well written it’s that they had heart, with likeable characters and very earnest voice-acting. The boring characters and flippant tone of Andromeda is what killed it for us.

Sickening revelation

In response to the reader and his character shaking in Prey, the same thing happened to me and it turned out, after hours of frustration, that my character had radiation poisoning, an anti-rad later and it was fixed.

The game didn’t explain this very well, just a small logo at the bottom left of the HUD, but that was the least of the game’s problems…ANON

Virtual pros and cons

Ever since I went from the 2D SNES to the 3D with analogue controls N64 I’ve been excited by the possibilities of a new console generation. VR is probably the most exciting jump new tech has so far offered and I finally caved and put a PlayStation VR on the credit card.

The pros of VR were immediately clear with Resident Evil 7 and the Star Wars VR mission. The level of immersion is spectacular. You won’t mistake it for reality, everything looks like a computer game, but it’s impressive. I spent five minutes just sitting in the cockpit of the X-wing soaking up and appreciating what I was seeing. Looking behind me to see the R2 unit nestled in the back of the X-wing was a particular delight. It trumps going from the SNES to N64 by a long shot.

Being early days for VR the cons are equally clear though. The price, £800 for the PS4 Pro, PlayStation VR, camera, 2x Move controllers, Resident Evil 7, and Farpoint. The resolution is the most obvious limitation right now, close up objects are fine but beyond that is indistinct. Lastly, the lack of content, especially full price games. But I already have Resident Evil 7, Farpoint, DiRT Rally, Polybius, and Thumper to enjoy and I’m hoping Sony will play a leading role in VR content.

Even so I’m very impressed with where PlayStation VR is at for the money and tech, and can only image what PlayStation 5 and PlayStation VR 2 could do. I can’t imagine anyone who did decided to bankrupt themselves and get VR would come away from it anything but delighted with what they’d bought.

I’m eagerly awaiting VR news from E3 now. A full game by the Star Wars VR Mission guys, is it Criterion? Just has to happen.Simundo Jones

GC: Criterion are the team that did the X-wing mission, yes. They’ve reportedly been expanding the size of their team, but whether that’s for a full game or whatever Battlefront II is using VR for is unclear.

Inbox also-rans

I’m also gutted about what’s happening to Io-Interactive. I thought it was a dream come true that Hitman had gone back to the way I like it. I guess not enough other people liked it though…Keit

So… one of Bethesda’s new games at E3 is going to be a sequel to Wolfenstein: The New Order, right? I hope so, that game was great and severely underrated by people.Corran4

GC: Again, we honestly don’t know for sure. But we’d be willing to bet on it.

This week’s Hot Topic

The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Grackle, who asks what’s your favourite role-playing game?

Role-playing games have seen their popularity ebb and flow over the years, but they’ve arguably never been more popular than now. So we want to know what you think of the genre in general and whether knowing a game is a role-player ever puts you off.

Do you play both Western and Japanese style titles, and what was the first role-playing game you ever played? How has your opinion of them changed over the years, and how would you like to see the genre evolve in the future?